Norwalk resident pleads guilty in immigration-benefits scam

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Nora R. Dannehy, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, who announced the plea Wednesday, said from approximately March 2004 to September 2005, Miecznikowska worked for The Spartan Group, which purported to be an immigration services company that was paid by individuals who were not legally in the country in exchange for making applications on their behalf in order to obtain immigration benefits.

According to Dannehy, the company's owner and president was Jose Santos, and Miecznikowska held herself out to be the vice president of the company's Stamford office. The company had offices in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Connecticut.

As part of the conspiracy, The Spartan Group would assist individuals in filling out and filing fraudulent I-140 applications ("Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker"), in which an alien is sponsored by a business to work in the United States.

The applications contained the names of businesses in the United States that had no connection with the individual seeking the employment visa. The applications, which contained materially false information provided by the company, were then mailed to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.

Miecznikowska met with individuals who came to the company's Stamford office, would explain the immigration process to them and discuss the fees the company charged for their services, which were generally between $18,000 and $21,000.

On occasion, Miecznikowska provided individuals with mostly blank applications and asked them to sign the applications. On many occasions, individuals would pay by check made out to cash or the company, and Miecznikowska would, in turn, deposit this money into her personal bank account.

Miecznikowska is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny on March 5, 2010, at which time Miecznikowska faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.

On Oct. 15, 2006, a federal grand jury sitting in Bridgeport returned a 12-count Superseding Indictment charging Joseph Santos, also known as Jose Santos and Joe Santos, with various offenses related to this scheme, which is alleged to have defrauded hundreds of illegal aliens of several million dollars.

Santos, a citizen of Portugal who came to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1971, is a fugitive from justice.